A common problem while cooking is how to organize and store (while cooking) the multitude of cooking/kitchen utensils that are used to prepare, cook and serve the many courses and dishes involved in a meal. These cooking utensils include forks with two or more tines, non-fork utensils such as knives, spoons, spatulas, ladles, and others. Cooking utensils are often left on the counter, dripping liquid and solid residue/waste from the dishes for which they are being used. This raises both sanitary and organizational problems for the cook/user.
When more than one utensil is placed on the counter or on a plate, the liquid and solid residues can be co-mingled between the utensils. The co-mingling combined with the possibility of picking up the wrong utensil for a particular dish increases the chance that residue from one dish will contaminate another dish. The contamination can range from merely affecting the flavor to causing bacterial contamination if a utensil was used with raw meats, fishes or vegetables.
Still further, when more than one utensil is being used and all of the utensils are placed on a single plate or in a single bowl, it is necessary to pick up all of the utensils and transfer them to another a plate or bowl in order to clean the liquid and solid residue/waste that accumulates over time.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,799,744 discloses a cook's caddy and recognizes the problems of cross contamination and residue removal, but allows the utensils to potentially sit in the utensil residues if the funnel openings in the floor become clogged. In addition, this patent fails to address the problem of thin utensils, such as knives or some forks that will not sit up in the wide compartments shown and described. Still further, without special compartments for thin utensils, and despite recognizing the problem, the patent and design actually encourages co-mingling of utensils in the compartments, as shown in figures.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,318,478 discloses a utensil assembly that stores utensils upside down with the working end oriented towards the bottom of the assembly. While this utensil assembly allows easy identification of the utensils and provides a separate compartment for each utensil, the residue/waste can co-mingle between the working ends of utensils stored upright in the utensil assembly. In addition, by orienting the handle ends downward towards the lower end of the utensil assembly, residue/waste can run down the handle causing additional mess.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,161,718 discloses a utensil basket that is shown sitting in a tray, with the tray designed to protect a counter from the utensils in the utensil basket. In such a design, the utensils rest on the bottom of the basket which in turn sits directly on the tray. The bottom of the tray can sit completely submerged in residue/waste that dripped from the utensils, as well as directly contacting the bottom of the tray through the basket. In doing so, the utensils can contact any residue/waste collected in the tray from any or all of the utensils.
The present invention is a unique wire rack and framed holder which is easily manufactured and easily movable on any horizontal surface that holds multiple kitchen utensils of various sizes and types for cooking only.
A primary object of the present invention is to provide a device that will overcome the shortcomings of the prior art.
Another object is to provide a device that allows the user to clearly see all of the utensils being stored in the device so that the user may easily select the appropriate utensil desired and not use the wrong utensil.
An additional object is to provide a device that has a wide and open drainage grill that permits not only the drainage of liquids from the stored utensils but the drainage of larger food particles as well, without a concern for the drainage area becoming clogged and creating an environment for contamination.
A further object is to provide a device that holds the stored utensils separate and above their drained liquids and food particles so as not to have utensils sitting in their own food waste.
A still further object is to provide a device that is inexpensive to manufacture.